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I have a rather simple question, which I cannot seem to find the answer to online.

I would like to host a wireless network using an arduino. Other devices could connect to and communicate with the arduino. Could I do that with a shield like this?

Also, once a device (say a phone) is connected, how would it go about requesting a web page, or other information?

Thank you!

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  • While not impossible, this is generally a bad idea - a classic Arduino is desperately short on memory and computational resources to manage network communication with one other station, let alone several. There are far more capable alternatives out there at lower prices - esp8266, router chipsets, etc. – Chris Stratton Dec 29 '16 at 23:25
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Yes!

You can absolutely do the above said task with the shield that you provided information about.

All you have to do is to connect the Shield to the Arduino and upload the WiFiWebServer sketch from the Arduino's examples in the WiFi library!

Then you'll have to replace the SSID and Password with your WiFi's password.

Once uploaded, then you'll get your Arduino's (Server's) IP Address on the Serial monitorl.

Note the IP Address and open any browser on any device of your choice.

NOTE- Your device must be connected to the same WiFi network to which your Arduino is connected to. If you wish to access the Arduino server from outside your LAN then you'll have to forward/open a port on your WiFi router and direct it to the IP Address of your Arduino. But I am assuming that you just want to access it from your LAN therefore the port forwarding can be ignored.

You'll see the default webpage in the Sketch which you can change/edit as per your own wish by using HTML.

Here's the link to the detailed explanation from arduino.cc itself.

Coming to the Second part of your question: "Also, once a device (say a phone) is connected, how would it go about requesting a web page, or other information?"

Well once the server is started on the Arduino all you do is type the IP of Arduino in the browser of the device and then the browser sends a HTTP request to the server.(This is the same way in which the browser sends requests to any other website or server like google/youtube/stackexchange . It is same for all ).

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  • Can a device connect directly to the arduino? Rather than both connecting both devices to an existing network, I would like to broadcast a network FROM the arduino. – riverrun Dec 29 '16 at 17:39
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    Yes ! Absolutely but not with this shield. That requires both the device and the Shield to support ad hoc wireless mode, most of the devics do have the ad hoc conectivity but the Shield does not! So you have to find another shield for that and then it would work! But as far as this shield is concerned This is the only possible way to set up a server! – Manav Dec 29 '16 at 17:44
  • It looks like the ESP8266 supports this! Thank you :) – riverrun Dec 29 '16 at 18:33
  • If my answer helped you then you can upvote/ mark it correct answer Thank you :) – Manav Dec 29 '16 at 18:36

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